Poke Wars: Amidst Chaos
by JanTanner
Summary: Six years since it all went to hell. Six years since they took my arm. Six years since humanity became the scariest bastards on the planet. Ho-oh and his minions tried to murder all of us, I think it's only appropriate we try to do the same.
1. Chapter 1

0006 ADR

Talonflare H.A.D.S

* * *

The Talonflare cruised through the high skies of the planet. It had been airborne for almost ten hours now since it took off from the Kanto airfield. Due to it's engine design it only had to air refuel once as it passed over what remained of the Orange Islands towards it's end goal. As it headed toward the continent of Sinnoh the troopers inside did their best to remain rested. The mission was going to happen soon and none of them could afford to screw their entry due to fatigue.

Designed for missions that went further out than what a Pelipper dropship could manage it was used when the mission didn't have the luxury of a landing zone. A compact design with a large wingspan much like the Talonflame Pokemon it was named after. Built for height and speed, it was able to fly high in the stratosphere thanks in large part to the built in anti gravity units in the plane's belly. It even possessed chameleon tech to allow it to adjust it's color to blend in with the sky around it. It was the best humanity had to offer in terms of aircraft and the troopers inside were a mirror of that sentiment.

The troopers inside were all armored from head to toe and had been from the start of their mission. It made for a fairly uncomfortable trip, but none of the men would have traded it for more comfortable gear. The interior of the Talonflare wasn't heated as it was deemed an unnecessary expenditure when everyone would always be armored inside. If their mouths were covered by the advanced helmets they wore their breaths would have been little more than ice particles. The fact that the suits managed their body heat was the least of their capabilities.

The interior of the plane was surprisingly roomy compared to other aircraft troops had the displeasure of flying in. This was due to the long operational time the plane used. Without room to stand up and stretch many missions would end before they even began as the drop troops would cramp up on the way down and get killed during the landing. As it was now, none of the troopers were stretching. They had all prepared several minutes ago as the plane approached its target.

The squad of twelve was made up of some of the most war hardened soldiers the Kanto could find. The military would often allow for troops to take up non combat positions after several years of service. The men in this squad were all those that refused reassignment and chose instead to continue fighting on the front lines. They also had the privilege of being the most ornery bastards in the military.

Many had issues due to the war, others hated being under command of people they viewed as morons, and even more just didn't get along with anyone. They were all collected into this one squad and sent on some of the most dangerous missions with the lowest chances of success. This was due to the lack of oversight allowing them to act far more autonomously than near an official chain of command. It also was so they would get killed during a mission and no longer be a problem in the military's side. Steven took a sick pride in being so unlikable that they would stick him in a squad with such a reputation.

He brought his head down from where it was leaning against the wall of the plane and looked about at his squad. Many were occupied with their own thoughts and concerns. One of the benefits of his armored helmet was the HUD that provided information on his squad. Registered kills, service time, notable traits after the humans own undampening, and even accommodations given by the chain of command. The only two members of his squad he couldn't get useful info on where the two overseer mechs towards the back of the plane.

As they kneeled in the back to save space all he could get was the information on their basic functions. Since the first overlord mechs went into service the humans had been working on a way to make them less fragile along with making sure they didn't keep losing pilots. The breakthrough came when Dr. Akihabara managed to create a synthetic proxy brain for the Overlords. This allowed psychics to exert control over the overlord though the artificial brain. Thus the Overseer mechs were born.

Without a human taking up a large percent of the body the Overseer's could be designed with a much more nimble and robust body. Power sources could be introduced without fear of pilot damage. Even the weapons could be upgraded since higher caliber rounds that would normally be too much stress for a human in a power suit wasn't a concern for a full mechanized unit. All of this was without even mentioning the ability to maintain and constantly improve their pilots since they never even had to go near combat to use the suits.

The psychics would possess the suits when they were near friendly territory bonding with the mech. The mech would be sent out along with human troops and provide fire support. If the mech got damaged the psychic would release his or her mind and return to their body. The only thing lost was the mech and machines were far more replaceable than humans with psychic powers. Steven had worked with the Overseers before and had no real objection to them. Other squads and troopers often did due to their inherent mistrust of psychics.

A voice snapped Steven out of his reverie, "Alright listen up you assholes cuz I'm only going to say this once." The squad leader said, standing up and moving to the center of the plane.

He was sergeant Styler. One of the oldest active troopers in the human army. Steven recalled hearing that he once commanded a squad that Lt. Surge was a private in. The man had seen his fair share of war. He was offered a command position due to his experience but chose instead to get sent on missions like these. While the squad was considered uncontrollable by most, Styler did it by sheer balls.

Every single person in the squad had disobeyed his orders once. Other commanders would reprimand you and 'put it on your record'. Styler knew that wouldn't work and chose instead to keep the chain of command fresh in his recruits minds by beating the ever loving crap out of them for disobedience. That's why no one ever defied his orders more than once and why the squad got a sick sense of enjoyment watching the newbies get their asses kicked by an old man.

"Our job is to go down to Sinnoh, hit the high priority targets, recover items of importance, and finally find the survivor cell that has been working there and get them out. Our team is going to be split into two squads of six. Each one will get an Overseer as backup." He said to which the troopers around him groaned in displeasure, "Don't give me that shit. The Psy ops working in the Overseers know their shit and they're not here to baby sit. Each one has a new portable double feed reactor on their backs and those little packets of awesome are going to keep you, your gear, and most importantly your Golbat drop packs active throughout the duration of your mission. You want to stray from your Overseer, fine, enjoy the slow death you get when you realize the solar skin on your under weave suit isn't up to task with keeping your shit online!"

A light at the back of the loading area lit up and the troopers helmets lit up with a message from the pilot, "We're over the target in a minute, get ready for drop." He said.

"Alright people, get your asses in gear!" The sergeant said as the back ramp opened up and the interior was blasted with the cold air outside, "I'll be first, Jefferson you're next and the CO of the second squad." Styler said over the roaring wind.

As the door finished opening the sergeant's backpack powered up. Two elongated thrusters flipped up and a similar smaller set flipped downward. The Golbat drop pack was the premier line of tech from the human military. Designed for high altitude drops it not only allowed for jumps from an unprecedented height but also a wide range of uses even after landing. Only used in operations like theirs it earned the nickname of 'Golbatshit pack' from the regular troopers as one would have to be insane to think it was safer leaping out of a plane with a glorified rocket attached to your back.

The light in back turned green signaling the go ahead from the pilot for the jump. Steven watched with bored amusement as the sergeant gave one last pre jump comment before turning to face the outside. Not bothering to fall out like normal troopers he took down the ramp at full speed screaming like a madman and leapt into frigid air outside.

His body vanished in the next second and was replaced by a fine red mist followed by a long train of green. Something blew past the Talonflare and the unit was nearly deafened by a roar so loud it shook the plane. As the green trail passed everyone inside knew what was outside. Only a select few creatures and planes could reach this height and only one of those was long and green. Rayquaza had found them.

The sergeant's comm line was automatically turned off with his death replaced with Jefferson's as he was the next in the chain of command, "SHIT PILOT, IT'S RAYQUAZA!" He shouted over the comm.

"I know, jackass. He came out of nowhere!" He replied, "HOLD ON!"

The plane listed to one side suddenly and anyone not hanging on was thrown to the other end of the room. The Talonflare shuddered as a bright flash could be seen from outside. Something jostled the plane and the interior of the hold shook once again. The plane leveled out again in another second but now there was a shuddering in its flight that wasn't going away.

"Nice dodge there!" Jefferson said as he glanced outside.

"No it wasn't!" The pilot screamed, "Bail out now, this flying bathtub can't fight with Rayquaza, but I'll buy you as much time as I can!"

Jefferson needed no further prompting, "COME ON SHITHEADS!" He screamed charging down the open ramp.

Even with what happened to Styler not one of the troopers hesitated as they all followed suit and leapt out of the plane. As Steven barreled down the ramp he leapt into the cold air outside. The dark air around him made the green serpent form of Rayquaza stand out in the dark sky as it moved around for another attack on the plane.

He had done a jump like this before, although without the dragon attack, and he was still caught off guard by the silence around him. Without much air around them the only sound came from the comm chatter as the group fell. Choosing to deviate from standard drops he hit one of his maneuvering jets and felt his body turn to face back up towards the Talonflare.

Rayquaza had begun to catch up to the plane as it attempted to speed away. Steven magnified the rapidly shrinking forms through his helmet and watched as the Talonflare launched several small black objects out of it's back. He knew what they were and Rayquaza did as well. Air modified Magnemite anti armor mines. Steven watched as they flew backwards toward the dragon who tried to bank away, only for them to detonate around him in a pyrotechnic light show.

He could hear two of the rookies cheer at the explosions only for their joy to die on their lips as a beam of light shot outwards from the explosions and blew through the Talonflare. The next second the ship broke apart into two from the stress of the blast and speed it was going. One side exploded shortly after and the remaining wing careened off into the distance. With it's prey dead Rayquaza turned and sped towards the falling troopers.

"Listen up assholes! This drop is now a combat drop. Curtis, Myers, Roland, and me will engage the dragon. Pete is now in charge." Jefferson said as the four troopers near Steven activated their thrusters and started to angle their decent to meet up with Rayquaza.

Steven knew he couldn't afford to watch anymore. Turning back around he saw his squad activate their thrusters like him and start diving towards the earth. While he couldn't see he could clearly hear as his squad mates began to fire their weapons, the cries and orders coming clear over the line as they engaged Rayquaza. As he watched the cloud layer approach he heard each one of his fellow troopers comms die out one by one before finally going silent.

"Shit!" Pete said as Steven watched him look back, "Mercer, Giles, Overlord one you three with me. We're going to slow that thing down!" He said activating his thrusters and moving out of Steven's sight.

This time Steve turned and looked back as the three troopers and Overlord mech moved to engage the dragon. The three trooper's backpacks sent out constantly bursts of fire as they moved to the side and began firing white hot shells of metal at the dragon. The slugs, specifically designed to penetrate Pokemon skin, harmlessly bounced off the dragon's hide. A fanged mouth opened and bit Giles in half as it's tail swatted Pete with enough force to liquify his body.

Mercer never stopped firing even as his comrades died around him. His clip had long since emptied as Rayquaza disintegrated him with a hyper beam. As the dragon closed it's jaws explosions riddled it's side and for once injuries could be seen on it's body as Overlord one opened fire with it's Railgun.

The dragon turned to face his opponent who was given more room to maneuver due to stronger jetpacks on it's back. The mech managed to barely dodge to the side as Rayquaza attempted to cut the mech in half with it's jaws. More explosive shards of metal hit it's skin making the dragon pay for it's careless attack. It's followup was far less careless as one of the dragon's fins struck the side of the mech causing it to spiral out of control. It turned on the machine as Steven adjusted to face the ground again.

The clouds were coming up fast but not fast enough, "Oh God there's no one left to send." The only other trooper said.

"Kyle, Overlord two, we're splitting up!" Steven said, realizing he was the highest ranking officer left.

"WHAT?" Kyle said with clear shock.

"Don't question, JUST GO!" Steven said as he activated the thrusters on his pack and felt the force of acceleration on his body.

He didn't have time to check if the others did the same as he approached the cloud layer. Turning around he held his gun in both hands and braced it against his shoulder. Taking careful aim he squeezed the trigger and felt a shot fire out of the barrel. The streak of white hot metal shot through the air and he smiled as he saw it ricochet off of Rayquaza's hide. The dragon turned towards the falling trooper and the last thing Steven saw was his snarling mouth as he chased after him.

As his vision filled with clouds he turned to face downwards again. With a single command he felt his pack activate again and the thrusters pushing him to the side. The move saved his life as he saw a shadowy form pass through where he was. While he hoped to use the clouds to cover his descent he burst through the bottom in a just a few seconds.

Steven found himself in the middle of a blizzard as snow whipped about his suit partially blinding him as he sped towards the earth. Looking over to the side he saw Rayquaza drawing a bead on him and begin to turn towards him as he fell. With another mental command he attempted to activate his thrusters. When they failed to fire off he felt a mix a dread and confusion as the dragon approached, jaw open.

A Porygon appeared on his HUD, "Sir, acceleration at this point would prove fatal upon landing. Until contact with the ground has been established I have disabled your downward acceleration." The Pokemon said.

"FFFFFFFFFFFF- YOU STUPID PIECE OF-" Steven never got a chance to finish what he was saying as Rayquaza's jaw filled his vision.

Before the Pokemon could bite down Steve angled his body horizontal to the ground and felt his thrusters fire at his command. Accelerating out of the dragons mouth he felt the force of the bite close behind him. Using his thrust he then angled upwards and narrowly avoided the approaching arm of the dragon. Another burst from his pack and he moved towards the dragon as he saw it's tail swipe at the place where he would have been if he tried to get away.

Without missing a beat the dragon turned in place and angled itself for another pass. Steven was grateful it was arrogant enough to play with it's food as the legendary moved to attack him again. Knowing he wouldn't be able to dodge a second time Steven let himself relax and face the dragon's attack path. As Rayquaza approached Steven smiled and held out his left arm and gave the attacking dragon the finger.

"That's right, come on you dumb shit…" He said.

A second before Rayquaza could get Steven into his mouth the outstretched arm suddenly changed. It's fingers pulled back and it's palm opened up to reveal a barrel underneath. The fingers attached to the side of the wrist and locked the arm in place as Steven mentally loaded the gun on his arm. A blast with enough force to send his artificial arm shooting back came from the barrel and thousands of sharp metal needles shout outwards right at the dragon.

The shotgun blast hit exactly where Steven wanted to as the dragon screamed in pain as the metal shards scored a direct hit on the Pokemon's eye. It's attack thwarted Rayquaza fell off to the side howling in pain and agony as it tried to get the metal splinters out of it's eye. Steven used this time to angle himself downward and activate his hut.

"Landing zones!" He shouted at Porygon.

"None within range. Acceleration downwards requires water landing. All water frozen." The Pokemon replied.

"Isolate and locate." He said as he watched his HUD light up showing him where the lake was.

His arm reverting to it's normal form he grabbed his gun with both hands and aimed it downwards towards the water. Squeezing the trigger he felt the machine gun fire off a burst of shells from it's secondary clip. The bullets hit the ice of the lake and for a moment seemed to do nothing. Then the points of impact exploded with enough force to send chunks of ice into the air.

Steven then angled his body and straightened up as much as possible as he let the thrusters slow down his descent as much as possible. Closing his eyes and bracing for the impact he felt his feet his the water and in the next second his entire body was submerged. He felt the cold of the frozen like even through his warmed suit. Shooting downwards like bullet Steven let the water do the work of slowing him down so he didn't tax the backpack too much.

Eventually he felt his body slow and finally just float within the murky depths of the lake. He let his body relax and begin floating upwards. Turning around he got ready to swim towards the hole he had created when the entire surface of the lake cracked and burst inwards. Rayquaza's head shot downwards into the water and fired off a hyperbeam blind into the lake trying to destroy the offending Steven.

It was only luck and the fact that he hit the water at an angle that the beam didn't instantly incinerate him. It was luckier still that he was in Rayquaza's new blind spot. Adjusting his body he let himself go limp and float naturally. The dragon's head turned towards him and knew the eye was studying him intently. He could only hope playing dead would suffice.

For a moment it looked like the dragon wasn't satisfied. Then for some reason unknown to Steven it looked away, then snarled, and finally pulled it's head out of the water. He heard, even under the lake, the roar of the Pokemon and felt it leap off the ice into the sky.

Steven didn't dare move as he wondered if this was just a trick to bait him into moving. Eventually the cold of the lake began to get to him and he gave up playing dead. With broad stroked he swam to the surface and breached the top of the water. The snow was still falling around him and he knew he had to get out of the ice cold water.

With a mental command he felt his thrusters fire up and he shot out of the water. He only let the engines fire off for long enough to get onto the snow covered ice and he felt his knees buckle underneath him as he landed. Putting his hand forward he stopped his face from hitting the ice and he tried to calm his breathing. Eventually he disengaged his face mask and ripped off the visor so he could feel the ration pack he ate earlier come up and exit his mouth.

Wiping away the spittle of his heaving he reattached his mask and felt the regulated airflow enter his lungs again. It was designed to slowly adjust a trooper so the shock from going from high altitude to low wasn't as severe but there was only so much it could do.

After a few minutes he stood himself up on wobbly legs and made his way over towards the treeline. The blizzard raged around him and he felt a little more calm knowing that unless Rayquaza was directly on top of him he wouldn't be able to see any better than him in this storm. The only reason he knew he was heading towards the shore was that he didn't land in the ocean and that his point of entry into Sinnoh was likely the Acuity lake.

Eventually he made out trees ahead of him and he attempted to hurry towards them. The snow was deep, however, and he felt his legs weaken and his vision swim. Eventually he made it to the nearest tree only for his legs to give out and his body to fall down into the snow. He lay in the soft frozen fluff for a few minutes before his eyes began to droop and his vision darken. Steven wasn't sure if it was the dragon attack or more atmospheric sickness but right now the snow was more comfortable than a downy bed surrounded by blankets.

As he began to drift off Porygon monitored his troopers life support and readings for any anomalies. A basic computer designed for limited human interaction and mostly monitoring data it's sole purpose in life was to make sure the human didn't have to worry about unimportant things. While its human was passed out it went about its job as efficiently as it was able adjusting heat and warmth so its human both wouldn't freeze and so the falling snow would cover him up preventing detection.

It was a simple program but not simple enough to not take pride in it's work.


	2. Chapter 2

0006 ADR

Sinnoh

The snow fell down from the sky at a steady pace. It had been falling for days now with no sign of letting up. The inhabitants of the area could only count their blessings that it had been inconsistent in amount. It always snowed, but it was still staying light and low enough that they could travel around. The one's that had to move cursed their luck that they didn't hibernate like the other Pokemon in the area.

A Sneasel waited in the trees near by lake Acuity. He had been holding back in the branches for a while now since the battle had taken place above. Every Pokemon in the area had heard the sounds of battle was something everyone had gotten used to in the world after the undampening. Only when they saw Rayquaza was the source did many of them bolt for cover and hide. Everyone knew the power of a legendary and the highest chance a Pokemon had was not getting noticed by the walking demigods.

Sneasel had hidden in the tree and counted his blessings that Rayquaza wasn't interested in drafting Pokemon from the area. He felt even luckier when he saw one of the humans climb from the lake and collapse on the shoreline. Were he a less cautious Pokemon he would have dived down and finished off the human before stealing what it could. It held back due to his concern that there might be other Pokemon nearby ready to take his meal. To his eyes the human seemed to have passed out, and he could wait to see if anyone else was going to lay claim.

"I'll show them… I can survive out here without their help." The Sneasel said to himself as he began to move down the tree.

Steven, meanwhile, felt himself slowly come to after passing out from the high altitude drop. His vision was flooded with lights shining against the darkness that made it impossible for him to see. After a few moments of letting his eyes adjust he realized he was staring at the heads up display from his helmet. The readings came into focus as he let his vision adapt to seeing through the display again.

Behind the H.U.D he could see nothing but darkness and snow. From what he could tell he had been sleeping for a while and had accumulated a layer of the frozen water over his body. He slightly twitched each part of his body to see if anything was broken and when each movement provided no pain he began to up the movement. Bringing his hands up he felt the snow start to fall off his body as he moved.

"Approaching hostile Pokemon." Porygon said with an unnatural calmness.

"Wha-? SHIT!" Steven said.

His jetpack flared to life and shot him forwards into the piles of snow in front of him. Rolling to a stop he looked back at where he was just laying to see a Sneasel with it's claws buried in the snow right where his neck once was. Standing up he adjusted his gun hanging off his back before reaching for his combat knife strapped to his leg.

"Sne sne sneasel sne!" The pokemon taunted readying it's claws.

"Translating…" Porygon said, "You-should-have-just-lay-there."

"Thanks, I kinda got the intent. Fukin wild Pokemon…" Steven said holding the knife before him and angling his body against the Sneasels own.

He held the knife in his left hand before him in a defensive position. He was naturally right handed but with his artificial arm was his right and he wanted to keep the gun ready in case. The Sneasel had pulled out it's claws and started moving across the top of the snow in a circle around Steven.

Steven realized that its own ice type allowed it far greater maneuverability on the snow then he could manage. It had already piled up enough to reach his calves and was likely going to slow his movement's down enough for the Pokemon to have free reign with his attacks. Keeping his knife in between them he did his best to turn with the Sneasel while pounding down the snow at his feet.

As the Pokemon circled around him it started to add more complex movements to it's actions. Diving in, leaping over him and launching a series of feint attacks all to keep him off balance. Steven's only saving grace at the moment was that the Pokemon apparently didn't want to use any high powered moves. He surmised it was to keep the battle local and not attract unwanted attention for either of them.

As Steven watched his opponent the Sneasel vanished in a burst of speed and he felt the resounding clang of it's claws on his armor. Porygon immediately brought up the suits damage indicator showing Steven where the cut landed. From the fact that his entire suit was still colored green over the H.U.D he realized it hadn't dealt much damage. His inspection of the damage was interrupted by another clang and he felt his knee buckle as the force of the attack his his armor.

"That's what I get for not paying attention." Steven said with irritation as he watched the Sneasel taunt him from out of his range, "Fine you little shit let's dance."

He watched as the Pokemon began maneuvering around him again readying it's next attack. Steven kept his eyes on the Pokemon as it moved. Watching the Sneasel's feet he saw them twist as it launched its next attack. Coming from the side of him, Steven simply let his body shift and move directly towards the attack.

The Sneasel vanished as it charged him once again. This time its attack was cut off as Steven leapt from his position to meet the attack head on. The claw attack that was meant to cut into the less protected parts of the armor now met head on with Steven's heavily armored shoulder of Steven. Sneasel's claw hit the shoulder guard and actually imbedded itself in the armor.

The kinetic force of his charging attack then caught up with him as the Pokemon felt its body smash into Steven's. What was meant to be a hit and run now crashed head on in to the human's full mass and Sneasel felt the wind get knocked out of it as his torso hit Steven's body. Bouncing off he felt his claw come lose and himself fall to the snow below.

Before he could move he felt something heavy hit his chest. Looking down he saw the shining steel of the combat knife sticking out of his chest. Steven stood above the Sneasel looking about, unconcerned with the fact that the Pokemon was dying. As Sneasel's blood flowed onto the snow Steven sat down next to the gasping Pokemon and adjusted his helmet, lifting off the faceplate and looking about the area.

"Damn, how far off course did we end up?" He asked to no one around him.

Sliding back down his faceplate he grabbed the knife from where it was embedded in Sneasel's chest. With a twist and a pull he yanked the metal from the Pokemon and watched as it let out a cry of pain before death finally took it. Wiping off the blood on the snow he slid the knife back into it's holster.

"Pssft, Wild Pokemon sure have gotten weak again. Hardly even worth denting my armor for you." He said as he kicked a pile of snow onto the corpse to cover the body.

After he buried the body of the Sneasel he lifted up his left arm and began tapping buttons on his Poke glove. Unlike the trainer designed ones this was meant to seamlessly integrate with his armor. It also traded features found in normal gloves, Pokemon storage and various utility functions, for more specialized abilities. One of those was a direct H.U.D connection allowing him to view the information provided by the glove without needing it's excessive hologram setup.

He brought up the map of Sinnoh and activated the short range radar. A line connected from the top of the map to the middle and began to slowly rotate across the area around him. Minimizing the map while it searched he brought up the roster and began to update the list.

"Styler… dead, Jefferson… dead, Curtis… dead." He went through the entire list updating the mission roster with all the confirmed deaths he witnessed first hand during the disastrous drop, "Shit... the only one left is likely Kyle."

His attention was drawn away by the sound of a ping signaling to him that the scan of the area was done. Bringing up the map again he viewed the area around him. He felt himself relax slightly at the sight of a strong Poke glove signal north of his area. Even more important than that was the signal of the last Overseer suit near the Poke glove signal. If he started out now he would likely meet up with them within a few hours.

"Porygon package the updated mission roster list and attach vocal file to it. Begin recording now, Stealth drop failure, one Overseer and one team member alive, continuing mission, over." Steven said letting his voice get recorded by the suit.

"You forgot your codename and authenticator code." The digital Pokemon prompted.

Steven let out a sigh at the reminder, "Code name, Righty, authenticator code four four seven one dash A as in asshole." He said irritably as the recorder shut off, "Send once one of the rapid orbit satellites comes within range.

"Yes sir." The Pokemon replied.

With a sigh Steven began trekking through the show hoping the weather held out long enough for him to make good progress. He wasn't worried that much about Pokemon he'd meet along the way. Any nearby would have seen his battle and would be more interested in the carcass of Sneasel than him. The Poke glove radar remained on despite his confidence and maintained a passive scan of the area at all times.

The trees overhead were a welcome respite from the snowfall and heavy collection but after an hour of traveling he was greeted with the sight of the mountainous rock of the Sinnoh north. The trees thinned then nearly vanished as only shrubs and bushes grew in the weak and sparse soil around the rocky area.

Checking his Poke glove again he saw that the nearer of the two friendly beacons was the trooper's signal. He was thankful that the point was moving on it's own towards his position. A clear indicator that Kyle was alive and well. Minimizing the map again Steven glanced at the rock and had a silent debate over what to do next. He could waste his own energy trying to climb the rocky surfaces or he could waste his suits energy by using his Golbat drop pack to traverse the terrain.

"Fuck it, I'm damned either way. Might as well travel in style." He said feeling the pack on his back flare up at his mental command.

With a burst of speed he leapt into the air directly towards the nearest outcropping of rock. Landing on the snow slick surface he didn't wait for his feet to adjust to the slippery surface and instead lifted off again. His movement rapidly accelerated over the rocky terrain as he bounced across the rocks and stones. Cresting one last hill he looked down to see Kyle below him waving his arms back and forth to signal him.

Letting his pack activate it's glide option he felt himself slowly floating down as Porygon kept track of his speed and controlled descent. Landing in the snow near Kyle he let the pack maintain its upward thrust until he secured his feet on ground that wouldn't slip out from underneath him. Seconds later his pack powered down and the wings providing thrust lowered themselves back onto his backpack.

"Steven… oh I mean sir." Kyle said with a salute.

"Stop that." He replied.

"Oh… sorry. You're still the commanding officer now. I guess I have to follow your orders from this point on." Kyle said.

"Heh, commanding officer, that's a joke. Our mission is still the same, we get to that Overseer and hope it's still running and then we make our way south." Steven said.

"So no cutting out losses and running then?" Kyle asked.

"No." Steven replied.

He didn't wait for a reply instead orienting himself towards the Overseer signal. Not bothering to wait for Kyle he started walking over the rocks and stones of the mountainous region. His attention was drawn back to Kyle as he spoke up.

"We're not going to use our packs?" He asked.

"Not if we can help it. The Overseer is our only source of power and if that thing is too badly damaged it'll mean we have to conserve our resources. Steven replied.

"You think it's going to be damaged?" He asked.

"It took a full hit from Rayquaza and hasn't moved yet. I'm going to assume it is until proven otherwise." Steven said.

"What the hell was that Legendary doing here anyways?" Kyle asked.

"Probably its own mission. It didn't pursue me into the lake when I splashed down so I think it had more pressing matters to deal with than one lone commando." Steven said.

With no further questions from the rookie, Steven focused more on moving forward than trying to keep the conversation going. The two traveled in silence moving about the snowy mountain with practiced ease. Steven remembered the rigorous training the squad went through to prep for the mission. At least a month was spent in all forms of terrain to get them acclimated to the various issues of each one.

"That was time well spent." He thought bitterly.

A signal from his Poke glove indicated that the two were approaching the site of the downed Overseer, "Hey is that smoke?" Kyle asked looking further up the mountain.

Steven lifted his head and looked up at the ridge above them. At first he couldn't see what Kyle was talking about then his eyes adjusted slightly and he started seeing a trail of white cloud coming up from beyond the ridge. Mentally switching over the vision provided by the suit the world turned a blue and red to his eyes and he was able to see with perfect clarity the vapors rising from the mountain ahead.

"No, it's too white to be smoke, looks more like steam." He said approaching the rocks blocking their line of sight.

Signaling Kyle to hold wait he glanced over the rock to the small valley where the Overseer had landed. The first thing he saw was the mech in question. It's torso had a large indent but the mech looked to be in once piece. The second thing he noticed was the small group of Aipom and Ambipom on the other side of a small lake in the center.

The smoke and vapor come out of the lake and Steven guessed it was a hot springs of sorts. The Overseer was located at one end in a sitting position and looked powered down. Around it's base was a fairly large pile of rocks that had gathered around it. Steven wasn't sure how it ended up like that until he saw an Aipom grab a rock with it's tail and lob it over at the mech. The rock scored a direct hit and the Pokemon all screeched and cheered at the hit.

"Damn… Well at least they're unlikely to hurt the mech." Steven said.

"What's up?" Kyle asked keeping an eye out for anything sneaking up on them.

"There are some Aipom and Ambipom down there chucking rocks at the Overseer." Steven replied.

"No shit?" Kyle asked standing up and glancing over the rock, "Wow you're right… should we take them out?"

"Doesn't seem necessary. Even after the dampener those Pokemon never really got aggressive. Plus Ho-oh apparently never tried to recruit them, too much thrown shit not enough actual progress I'd guess." Steven replied, "Think you can get the mech online?"

"Yeah, I got my kit ready. What are you going to do?" Kyle asked.

"Likely get hit with some rocks and shit I'd imagine." Steven said with resignation.

Leaping up over the rock he jumped off and felt his thrusters activate. Gliding down he pulled out his sidearm and fired a shot into the air as he descended. The gunshot echoed throughout the valley and the Aipom and Ambipom scattered immediately letting him land amongst the area they had just occupied with ease. He held his pistol ready not because he expected the Pokemon to fight him but more because he expected to have to make them scatter again.

He watched as Kyle glided down next to the Overseer and pulled out a small toolkit from a pack below his Golbat drop pack. Each of the men in his squad had their own job to do. Some were medics, some engineers like Kyle, and others were mine layers and detectors. Steven's own job was ammunition carrying and communications. His own pack had an abundance of ammo and a built in communicator to hook up with the rapid orbit satellites.

Steven's attention was drawn towards the Pokemon as he felt one of their rocks smack against his suits helmet. Like the Overseer it was unlikely to damage him or his suit but it still wasn't an enjoyable experience getting hit with rocks. Seeing another head towards him he stepped aside and watched as it clattered on the ground before him. The Aipom and Ambipom's cries filled the valley as he watched them hop up and down at the edge.

"Can we speed up the repair, I would like to leave here before they run out of rocks." Steven said sidestepping another projectile.

"You can't rush genius Steven." Kyle replied.

"Which is why I'm rushing you!" He said as he watched another Aipom lob something he couldn't recognize towards him.

Avoiding the object and hearing it splat behind him he inwardly grimaced at the idea that all his training and skill was being tested by shit throwing Pokemon, "Steven it's done!" Kyle said as the suit began to glow as power flowed through it.

"Well can we get out of here then?" He asked.

"Not until the host psychic gets back inside and starts controlling it." Kyle said.

"Son of a goddmanmit." Steven replied, "Fine at least get over here so I'm not the only one getting stuff thrown at it."

"Oh… I would but there's… stuff… that needs fixing on this thing." Kyle said.

"You…" Steven said.

His curse was cut short as the ridge the Aipom and Ambipom were hiding behind was riddled with explosions. Kyle fell backwards at the sudden movement of the Overseer as it stood up and pushed off the pile of rocks near it. It kept it's heavy machine gun pointed at the ridge while it sent a communication to Steven.

"Seems my systems are working fine so far. Can we leave before they get more aggressive?" A female voice asked.

While it was heavily synthesized as all Overseer voices were the fact that it was female meant that the operator was also likely female as well. Steven inwardly groaned as that meant that it was likely another one of Anabel's female prodigies. He had worked with psychics before and he knew Anabel's school was always easier on the girls than the guys.

"Yes let's go." He said feeling his pack flare up behind him.

The trio moved with speed through the snowy mountains. The goal was no longer finding each other but getting out of the area as quickly as possible. Their movement and weapon fire was likely going to draw in many Pokemon from around the area eager to fight humans for whatever reason. The Aipom and Ambipom didn't bother following them. Their hotsprings was vacated and that's all they cared about.

The treeline fast approached and the trio moved into the woods with little difficulty. It took Steven a few moments before he realized the two were following him. He realized he was the highest ranked officer in the group. Overseers had higher ranks but they deferred to officers in the field to avoid chain of command issues. It was going to take him a while to get used to the fact that the squad, small as it was, was now under his command.

"Alright hold up here." He said indicating an upcoming stream.

The group slowed, then stopped, at the now frozen stream. It was barely five feet across and was likely one of the many small sources of water that fed into lake Acuity. The reason he chose to stop here was little more that it being the only noticeable terrain feature besides trees.

"What's the hold up?" Kyle asked.

"We need to do a resource count and our Overseer needs to be checked out fully before we can continue." Steven replied.

"I already said my systems are working fine." The audio voice from the mech said.

"It's SOP and I don't care to take chances. If we had a full squad I'm sure it wouldn't be an issue but we don't. Plus we need to check your power source to see if it's still working properly." Steven said.

"I already know it is…" The mech said in as best a disingenuous voice as it could manage.

"Kyle step on it. The sooner we do this the sooner I can get our mech to stop whining." Steven said moving to the back of the suit, "Your power's going to cut for the next few minutes."

"Got it." The Overseer said.

With that Steven activated several buttons on the back of the mech between it's own jump pack. The next instant a long narrow section slid out and the mech slumped down like a puppet with it's strings cut. Without bothering to comment on the peace and quiet surrounding the two Steven went to work checking out the couplings and reactor in it's back.

The psychic felt her astral projection float up from the back of the mech as the two went to work on it. While her spirit had to remain in the area so she could posses the mech when the two were done looking it over she was able to use this time to check in with her own superiors. It was much like speaking over a radio and listening in on a headset. She couldn't use her body in any great way but it's eyes and ears still projected things to her.

With a simple mental command she felt her brain begin to send out waves of energy from her body. It's only purpose was to signal whoever was in the immediate area near her body that she was ready to communicate. In the next few seconds she felt the telltale signs of something touching her body and a voice projected itself into her mind.

"Are you alright?" The female voice asked.

"Yes Anabel," The psychic replied, "The mission is going badly though."

"I know, we heard from Cass when her Overseer got destroyed. The military just sent us a report themselves. Apparently nearly the entire squad was wiped out. Sadly Steven's message wasn't that informative so we'd appreciate an update." Anabel said.

"The jump was a disaster and it appears the only other survivors are Steven and Kyle. My Overseer is undamaged as far as the systems are concerned and they're doing a full systems check right now. I don't know if we can complete the majority of our objectives but I wouldn't put it past Steven to attempt it." She replied, "All of our jump packs are undamaged though so we can probably make it to the primary contact without much of an issue. It all depends on if he wants to try to complete our objectives first.

"Well you know him best. Do you think you'll get another chance to contact us again?" Anabel asked.

"I don't know. It seems unlikely with how few we are. I'll do my best but I can't promise anything. If Rayquaza is still in the area we're going to have a devil of a time doing anything, much less keeping in constant contact." She said.

"I see. Hopefully by the next contact the higher ups will have a better idea as to what they want you to do. Until then all of you are to stay safe and alive until you meet up with your primary contact in the area. Understood?" Anabel asked.

"Understood ma'am." She replied.

She looked down from her astral projection and saw Steven slide back in her mech's power core, "Oh and one more thing…" Anabel said drawing her attention back to her teacher.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Good luck Lisa." Anabel replied.

"Yes ma'am." Lisa said before she felt her getting drawn into her mech again.


	3. Chapter 3

Sinnoh

The snow had started to fall a few hours after the group began to move south towards the main part of the content. Lightly at first but as they moved further south it grew worse and worse by the hour. By the afternoon the snow had grown so bad the trio were forced to find shelter to get out of of the now raging blizzard around them.

They eventually took shelter in a cave. The mountainous regions of Sinnoh were known for the many caves dotting the Cornet range. The group huddled around the back of Lisa's Overseer mech as two of the coolant rods had been pulled from her power core allowing the mech to vent a large amount of heat into the cave.

"Good thing we found this cave…" Kyle said as he removed his suit's helmet.

After taking off the helmet he placed the device down on the ground next to him. His Survival armor was easily removable. Made of many jointed components like the medieval knights armor of old. It was built to take a beating and be easily removed if it sustained too much damage. As the helmet was placed on the floor Kyle reached up and pulled back the cloth like mesh over his head. A black rubbery substance it had a hole for his head and various thin lines streaking through the mesh.

"Man these Hardsuits aren't designed for comfort are they?" He asked rhetorically as he ran a hand through his short sandy blonde hair.

"They're designed to keep us alive, not comfortable." Steven said.

He sat opposite Kyle behind the Mech and was taking apart his gun with practiced ease. The clicks and snaps of the parts being taken apart then put back together filled the room alongside his words and the low thrum of the Overseer's power core providing heat.

"If you want you can take off the suit and see how much more comfortable you are." Steven added sliding the last piece back into place before starting the whole process all over again.

"I'm good with just my head thank you very much." Kyle said before looking outside, "When do you think this storm will let up?"

"Did you even pay attention during the mission briefing?" The artificial voice of the Overseer said.

"Umm… no?" Kyle said sheepishly, "I mean there is a reason I'm part of the group that tends to get all the crap recruits."

What could only be described as a mechanical sigh came from the mech before it's head turned one hundred and eighty degrees to look back at them, "The reason there's so much snow here is the Abomasnow and Snover." Lisa said.

"OK, don't do that." Kyle said wincing at the site of the rotating head, "And what do those Pokemon have to do with anything?"

"The Snover and Abomasnow are the ones creating this blizzard over the northern section of Sinnoh. If you payed attention to what's been going on during the war you'd know this Blizzard is the main reason we can't ever get any sort of sustained force within Sinnoh. The closest point to our warfront is hellish for anything but winter prepared troops and those are in short supply." She said.

"Wait don't we have like… seven battalions of Ice and snow trained forces?" Kyle said.

"I'm surprised that you'd know that," Steven said looking up from his gun, "Most of those forces are securing the Ransei region."

"Yeah? I never heard about that. Why are our winter forces there?" Kyle asked.

"Because the Nixtorm empire chose to get delusions of conquest after the limiter removal. It happened late in the year remember? Just in time for winter to start setting in which made it a perfect time for an empire that has a hardon for ice and snow to push outwards. The Ransei region was never the most politically stable region in the world and after the limiter removal… well lets just say every trainer with more than four Pokemon could carve out their own little kingdom with the power they had. We haven't just been fighting Ho-oh's forces you know." Steven said putting his gun down next to him.

"So… what does that have to do with us?" Kyle asked.

"I'm starting to see why you got assigned to the problem squad." Steven said sarcastically, "It has to do with us because the Abomasnow and Snover are causing this blizzard due to them forming packs out here in the north of Sinnoh. They gather into these packs then travel around. When two packs come together they go to war and the winner absorbs the loser making their pack bigger and bigger."

"So the bigger the pack the bigger the storm." Kyle said with understanding, "But wouldn't that mean eventually the pack would grow to such a size that nothing could challenge it?"

"Yes… which is why we're here. Our objective, or at least the posthumous second squad's objective, is to break apart the large pack that has recently dominated the area." Steven said.

"So how can we do that? Taking on a pack of Abomasnow that can dominate the entire northern section of Sinnoh might be a bit much for our little team of three." Kyle said.

"We're not taking on a hundred Abomasnow, we're taking on only one." Lisa said from her mech, "Their leader. This is an assassination mission."

"Well that seems more reasonable." Kyle said.

"It is, until you realize that the Abomasnow leader… is a Mega evolution capable Pokemon." Steven said with a smile.

"Of course it is." Kyle said with exasperation, "So what's the plan then?"

"Well I'm still working it out in my head. We need to do some scouting once the morning rolls around. I can't really figure out what to do without knowing what's in our way first." He said, "The best we can do is get some rest since we'll be doing a lot of work tomorrow."

"Oh joy, we get to do the work of two squads while at a fraction of our number. I knew this was going to be a shit assignment the moment they gave it to me." Kyle said.

Steven watched the Abomasnow through the magnification systems built into his suit. The hill they had chosen to observe the pack of Pokemon was a good distance away and overlooking the valley where the pack had chosen to gather. Both he and Kyle had arrived a few hours ago and had set up their observation post outside the forest.

The snow had continued to fall overnight and as they arrived it was easy to simply wait for the snow to cover the small lean-to they had set up. With the fresh snow still falling, active Pokemon scanning, and distance from the pack they had little to worry about in terms of being discovered. What they had to worry about was the sheer size of the herd. As the two watched the Pokemon mill about in the valley it was becoming abundantly clear that their goal was going to be near impossible.

Flopping back onto the frozen ground behind him Kyle let out a sigh and looked up at the tarp above him, "There has to be thousands of those things down there…" He said.

"Looks to be about twelve hundred." Steven said, "Give or take a few dozen here and there."

"God dammit, how are we even supposed to get close?" Kyle said.

Steven opted not to mention that his estimate didn't account for any that might be out scavenging for supplies. The second issue he had to consider was the Abomasnow's effect on the weather. One Abomasnow could summon hail in the midst of a battle, twelve hundred made the area constantly snowing at almost all times. It was causing havoc all over the northern continent. Many Pokemon that once made their homes up here had migrated south away from the snowfall.

Steven realized that this situation was a ticking time bomb waiting to happen. With all the Pokemon fleeing the area the other sections of the content were going to become overrun and likely end up running out of food due to the migration. The constant snowfall and inability for a thaw was also causing droughts in other areas as the water was becoming condensed in the north. The pack was causing problems on a continental scale without even considering how much more difficult it was to land forces in the area.

"So it's been several hours now, do you have any idea how to kill this leader Pokemon… do you even have any idea which one of the twelve hundred pieces of straw is actually the needle?" Kyle asked.

"I'm musing on an idea at this point… course you won't like it." Steven said as he slowly stood up.

His body ached as his muscles began to move again. As if on cue he felt his hardsuit begin to warm up areas of his body that were deemed to be areas of pain. Like putting on clothes after they've been out in the sun he felt warmth flow into his muscles, relaxing them and soothing the aches from remaining still for so long.

Kyle was the first out of the lean-to with Steven following behind. Both moved quickly for the treeline to get out of sight. The lean-to was made from branches and leafs allowing them to leave it behind. Eventually it would succumb to the elements and only a pile of debris would be any indicator that it had ever been there.

"So… the plan?" Kyle asked.

"I'm going to wait till we get back. Our Overseer will need to know what's going on and I don't feel like repeating myself." Steven said as they moved through the woods.

"You want me to snipe him?" Lisa asked.

"Yes, it's not a perfect plan-" Steven began.

"You're damn straight about that." Kyle said.

Steven shot him a cold stare which caused the trooper to shut up, "As I said it's not a perfect plan but it's all we have right now. Our Overseer's the only thing we have available that could take on a mega level Pokemon. Of course we can't risk our only big gun on our first mission so a long range assassination is the only option. At least we have the HMC for situations like this. I was worried that it was packed on the other Overseer that got chewed on by Rayquaza." Steven said.

"But Overseer's suck at precision combat!" Kyle said, "They're accuracy in sniping situations is almost half of what our own is."

"Yes but even the biggest gun we can use can't even scratch a Abomasnow without sustained fire." Steven replied.

"I can do it." Lisa said.

"Oh come on!" Kyle said with an exasperated tone, "Even if we can get the shot off, even if our Overseer can hit the target, and even if it is enough to take the thing down how are we even going to find the damn Pokemon? What, are we just going to walk up to the pack and go 'oh hi there, can you point out your leader so we can shoot him."?

"Actually that's closer to the truth than you think." Steven said with a mocking smile.

"Oh dammit all." Kyle said.

Abomasnow Valley

Two hours after midnight.

"I hate you so very much." Kyle whispered.

"It's feelings like those that keep me warm on nights like these." Steven replied in a hushed tone, "Those and the suit I'm wearing."

The Abomasnow were not great military thinkers. Most of them were sleeping soundly on the snowy ground as the two approached. The few that were awake and keeping watched were mostly doing their own tasks. Scavenging for extra food, wrestling with others, and Steven could see one rubbing it's back against a tree to scratch an itch. The last thing the pack's guards were doing was keeping an eye out.

As the two made their way through the forest they kept themselves low and moving as silently as they could over the snow. The snowfall prevented the moon from shining it's light down on the humans and the Pokemon so the red streaks along their armor made them no more noticeable in the darkness. An Abomasnow they managed to kill some distance back provided them with the blood necessary to help cover their scent.

Steven smiled as he remembered the teams survival expert's lectures before going out on missions, "Remember after the dampener removal all of the Pokemon's abilities were improved including their natural ones like scent and hearing. If you want to sneak up on the bastards you have got to smell the part." He would say.

"Didn't help you much when Rayquaza used you for a snack did it now?" Steven thought to himself as they got closer to the camp.

The planned path took them near the highest density of sleeping Abomasnow but also allowed them to get to the most important area in the entire valley. A series of bent and twisted trees formed a crude structure the Abomasnow made. It lacked any sort of skill in it's design. A simple lean-to made from sheer strength as the trees pushed over made a roof of sorts that kept the snow out and the interior drier than the outside.

As they approached the two had slowed almost to a crawl as the large mass of Abomasnow sleeping nearby kept their nerves on edge. Every shift as one rolled over and ever snort felt like an alarm going off to them. It didn't help that two of the sentries were having a fight off a ways away and from the sound of it, it was becoming more aggressive than a simple spar.

Thankfully they made it to the edge of the tree lean-to and slid between two of the knocked over trunks they breathed a sigh of a relief as saw only sleeping forms inside as well. While not as crowded as the outside mass of Pokemon the interior still had a dozen Abomasnow and twice as many Snover sleeping within. Steven didn't need a Pokedex to see that all the Pokemon in here were female.

Each and every small group of Abomasnow and Snover all slept around a small clutch of eggs in the middle of them. Steven had seen this place when he was scouting the area and the nursery that the Abomasnow's eggs. The young of the pack were also kept here allowing both of them to be kept warm with less effort on the part of the pack.

Pulling around his rifle he visually checked over everything then got ready to load in the first bullet. Before he could cock his weapon he saw a visual message on his heads up display. Lisa was sending him a message from where she overlooked the valley. With a grimace he signaled Kyle to hold for a moment.

'Should we be doing this?' The message asked.

He knew the question was valid but this far in all it caused him was irritation at the timing of it, 'Don't worry about that, just make sure you get the leader when he shows.' Steven replied with his own communication text.

Shutting off the window he signaled Kyle to advance as he brought up his gun to a ready position as Kyle did the same with his SMG. The two stood up and moved towards the center of the room taking care not to make too much noise on the snowless ground. Steven appreciated the irony of spending so much time to sneak in here just for this.

"Kyle you ready?" Steven said no longer bothering to lower his voice.

The effect was immediate as several of the Abomasnow stirred at the sudden noise, "Course I am." Kyle replied bitterly as he leveled his gun.

In the next second both weapons opened fire inside the hut. The sound of their gunfire exploded across the valley as the muzzle flares lit up the interior of the lean-to like bolts of lighting. The Snover barely had time to open their eyes before the bullets pierced their bodies and sent them back to a much more permanent sleep. The Abomasnow tasked with being the nursery matrons could only react with dazed confusion as the two humans emptied their clips into the the room.

It was a cruel mercy for the Abomasnow that their evolved forms made them the last thing the two would target. The bullets shot out from their guns and ripped into the flesh of the Snover and cracked and broke the dozens of eggs inside. A complete massacre ensued as Steven and Kyle slowly moved in a circular fashion to hit everything inside. By the time their clips had been emptied the entire valley was deathly silent save for the two humans reloading their guns.

The Abomasnow egg nurses had just enough time to realize what happened before their vision was clouded with red and they let out a resounding roar that Steven could actually feel across his body. If any Pokemon outside hadn't been woken up by the gunfire they were woken by the mournful rage the cry carried. One finally chose to act charging the two humans with bloodlust in her eyes.

Massive green claws were brought down where the two humans stood only to contact the ground as the two bolted immediately. Both their backpacks flared as they lept outside. They jumped over the gathering mass of awake and confused Abomasnow as they rushed to the nursery to see what was going on.

As Steven landed he saw Kyle ready his gun again as the Pokemon who weren't sure what was happening still knew what humans were and began to bear down on them. Steven himself let his rifle fall to the side, its harness causing it to slide behind him, as he drew his knife and felt the blade extend to nearly double its original length.

"Remember Kyle, we're not here to fight." Steven said as he squared off with a charging Abomasnow.

"I didn't want to be here at all!" Kyle replied as he sidestepped a clumsy swing from a not quite awake Abomasnow.

Before the two were overwhelmed by the sheer number of Pokemon around them the fight was stopped by a sudden roar. The volume of the cry was loud enough to shake snow loose from the trees and the Abomasnow's reaction was instant. They all backed away and formed a ring around the two humans. From the edge of the ring a single Abomasnow approached.

In it's arms was one of the many Snover that the two had shot and killed. Putting the small Pokemon down on the snow The Abomasnow turned towards them and reached out it's fur covered hand towards them then pointed at himself. The intent was clear to the two of them.

As they both got ready it pulled from it's fur a small stone and held the rock close to it's brest. In a flash the two were blown off their feet by an explosion of light from the Abomasnow. Hitting the snow covered ground the two got to their knees as the Abomasnow's light faded and they were left with a very angry, very big, and very powerful Mega evolution.

"I think we found our pack leader." Steven said, "Overseer you got eyes on target?"

"Steven! Dodge!" Kyle said drawing Steven's attention back to the Mega Pokemon.

Hundreds of shards of ice were raining down on them as the two glacial spikes on the back of the Abomasnow shot razor sharp icicles into the air that came down on the two of them. Steven hit his jump jets and shot off towards the side of the circular ring the regular Abomasnow had created. Readying his knife he charged as the Mega turned to deal with Kyle as the human opened fire with his submachine gun.

"Where the hell is our fire support?" Steven shouted as his knife cut into the leg of the Pokemon.

The wound was shallow and hardly fatal. The excess fur from it's mega evolution dulled any swing towards it and added a layer of depth that Steven would have to cut through to score any hits on the actual body. The result was now he had the Pokemon's attention and little to show for it. As it turned to face him he saw the small pinpricks of blood from Kyle's gun and realized they were just as effective as his own attack.

His jump pack flare to life again as he lept out of the way of the downward swing of the fur covered claw. So low to the ground he had no choice but to roll to a stop rather than aim for a landing of grace. Kneeling up he saw Kyle move to his side and ready his gun as the Mega Abomasnow turned towards them.

Before it could launch an attack three small thuds could be heard and three red holes appeared inside it's chest. The Pokemon paused mid attack and looked down at the holes with a confused look upon it's face. While it had no clue what was going on, Steven and Kyle knew exactly what happened as low thuds could be heard from a distance away.

The Pokemon let out a low groan before trying to take a step forward. As it's foot hit the ground another three thuds and another three holes formed in its chest. This time the Pokemon simply teetered where it was before falling forwards towards the two humans. As it hit the ground the two saw the result of the Overseer's artillery piece.

The entire back of the Mega Abomasnow was blown away from the force of the slugs that had hit it. Like a crater on the surface of the moon the Pokemon's back had been hollowed out and blown outwards from the sheer speed of the bullets that hit it. Behind it was a spray of red blood and gore that had splattered outwards from where the Abomasnow had been standing. Several dozen members of the group were covered in the remains of the pack leader's torso and back.

Silence reigned over the pack as they stared dumbfounded at their leaders death. Some fell to their knees while others let their jaws hang open at the sight of the mutilated body. Other's looked to be trembling at the sight their reaction unclear beyond their shaking.

"It is prudent to note that Abomasnow highly regard fight's to the death. By killing the leader in this manner they will likely revolt and kill you." Steven's Polygon said as it appeared in the corner of his heads up display, "I suggest running."

"Would have been nice to know BEFORE we went off and killed their leader." Kyle said.

The rest of his complaints were interrupted by the entire herd of Abomasnow letting out a roar and charging forward, "JUMP PACKS!" Steven said shooting up in the air alongside Kyle.

The two hovered in the air for a moment as their vertical velocity slowed and they began falling again. Their packs firing up again they flew towards the edge of the mass of Pokemon and glided over the living wave of fur, claws, and hatred. Landing at the edge of the field the pack had been using they fired off into the air and began moving away from the mass as fast as possible.

"Kyle we're splitting up!" Steven said as they leapt past the trees and into to the woods.

"What? Are you insane?" He replied.

"Overseer you receiving?" Steven asked ignoring the question.

"Yes, Packing up my gun and preparing to meet up with you two." Lisa replied.

"Belay that, we're splitting up." Steven said as he hit the ground after his last jump pack burst, "We need to ditch this horde before we can go anywhere. Meet back up with us at Chochovine town. You too Kyle."

"God damn you and your stupid ideas!" Kyle said before he activated his pack and lept off into the woods.

"Stay alive Steven." The Overseer said before it's comm cut out.

"That's the plan." He replied as his pack fired up again and he shot off into the distance.


End file.
